As the best riders in the world descended upon the Jones Center in Springdale, Arkansas, riders laid it on the line in the Last Chance Qualifier to secure their place at the Red Bull Pump Track World Championship Final tomorrow.

With the rain coming in earlier in the day, Las Vegas local Jordan Scott was out of her comfort zone but it did not seem to phase her as she dominated the proceedings from start to finish securing her place at the World Final.

“Today was pretty good for me, I won every round even though the conditions were not perfect. I took it pretty easy, had a great time and am looking forward to tomorrow” Jordan Scott

In the men’s field Barry Nobles was out for redemption after crashing out at the Nanaimo Qualifier earlier this year. Local rider Jimmy Smith was not going to let him take the win easily and the final would come down to the wire. Nobles however stole the LCQ win and now heads in to the World Final as a stand out favourite.

“It was gnarly man, this track, as I said earlier is tough but with every lap I felt a little bit more comfortable. I’m stoked to have put in 6 consistent laps and get that little bit closer to a world title” – Barry Nobles

Check out Barry Nobles winning run

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that
supports HTML5 video

35 Comments

Can we Mountain Bikers now please stop borrowing lame training regimes from roadies, use some stupid saucers for cassettes, Yoga for conditioning and start learning how to generate power from BMX racers? You know people who jump stuff bigger than crabapple bits on kids bikes and outlift that angry 350 pound bodybuilder in your gym? Thank you

@Grosey: as if you could catch up to a pro roadie... also I meant BMX racing not BMX dirt... what you showed is a dirt jumps spot. And those kids wouldn't clear the first double on BMX SX track, wouldn't even qualify to this pump track competition, no matter how many times they can change direction in the air on their PA spot and how many days they can live on one peanut butter sandwich. With all due respect...

@WAKIdesigns: sorry, your wrong. I grew up with 2 legends and that's what we rode (John Purse and Kyle Bennet). Along with Weights, plyo's, big jump trails, sprints. if you think your going to make the rhythem at a good spot without pumping the backside of the set before your wrong.

Basically, youre wrong. sorry m8.

I maybe didn't win AA (elite) races, but I podiumed at all the big nationals as an A pro (2nd ABA grands in A Pro, 2nd NBL Grands in A Pro. Lost of pro open mains (beating 20+ elite riders to make it). You are now talking 100% out of your ass.

You seen Barry Nobles backyard? Its not a pumptrack. Arrogance doesn't make you right.

And yes, I do believe if you get a late start on a road bike with good genetics, food, location, time, etc. you can ascend to an elite level; but that's another story.

@Grosey: So why then didn't you show a pic of a BMX SX track? Much more relevant and unlike that dirt spot it requires fkng power next to skills. Vert dirt jumps surely some pumping sure. Just not as much as a rhythm section on a BMX track. I spit my lungs out on our small local BMX track. The "pro line" has jumps smaller than whatever double on a proper track not to mention SX stuff. And I can't imagine hitting them. So I really have no idea how the hell does posh trails relate to pump track?! If you want to show us all that pump track is a silly sport, heh yeah it is. So fkng what. It raises level of average Joes?! What is wrong about that? BMX quasi skate ego speaking through you or what? ironically under a post glorifying BMX?! Tha fuk mate?!

@Grosey: I am training according to a BMX plan ATM but that’s at least a 2 year feat since my lifts suck, I won’t manage to get them high enough before plyo and sprints will have to kick in in full swing. I picked it up because I am pretty sure both conditioning and skills on the track will greatly elevate my riding in the woods. Why do you think would I suddenly become such a fanboi?

Also once you can clear the bmx track in some style you can be such a dick to mountain bikers... mmm

Totally agree! I've recently picked up a BMX bike and have been trying to learn to ride a pro level BMX track... it is tough! I pedal/pump as hard as I can and still case the jumps. Need to hit the gym this winter to get some power.

I raced a dirt jumper in the LCQ and also watched the finals the next day. Having been there, the situation was a bit more complex. On both days, qualifying runs had a rolling start, and things seemed a lot more equal. Barry Nobles posted on Instagram showing just that. The actual head-to-head races were from a dead stop. For those, it seemed like pedal power played a huge role. The bmx guys were up to speed much more quickly, and much lower seeded bmx guys were knocking out high-seeded DJ guys. It seemed like their max wattage was just too much higher to overcome. The bmx guys basically had a second to play with from the start. I had a similar situation the the LCQ. I had what felt like my best run of the day, and a guy who beat me by less than a second in qualifying beat me by more than a second and a half in our head-to-head.
I think you also have to incorporate the fact that bmx racers get a race bmx bikes several times a year, which isn't the case at all for people who ride dirt jumpers. Most of us are racing enduro or downhill all year, which involve very different bikes.
I'm definitely not trying to argue the dirt jumpers could be faster or even equal. I just know the situation is a lot more complicated than it seems on the results sheet.

@nohit45: haha, I see what you mean. I wasn't trying to make an excuse. I was simply trying to say that bmx riders are beasts compared to mtb riders, especially when it comes to those first few pedals. Also, the guy I lost to was faster than me with a rolling start. He would have beaten me without the advantage of explosiveness.

I am also an economic researcher, so my job is basically looking for compounding factors and trying to detangle them, even when doing so is unnecessary.... I think it makes a lot of sense that bmx bikes would be faster. The statistician in me just thinks there are too many latent variables to definitively say after participating and watching this weekend.

I don’t know how much can a BMXer utilize the power of his hip drive on the pumptrack, since there are so many turns but if he/she can, they will demolish MTBers because those people are the strongest and most powerful kind of cyclist out there. In a straight line, Race BMX is faster even for a dude like me, the acceleration from pedalling and pumping is noticeably bigger for me. When I change from Race BMX to my DJ, then for the first few minutes I feel like I am riding a DH bike. And that is a race bmx with wheelbase quite close to my DJ. Street/dirt BMX is another story